Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1887-07-01
FARM, DAIRY AND HOUSEHOLD.
Turkey Talk.

A farmers daughter contributes
to the Country gentleman chap
ter of her experience in raising
turkeys, which cannot fail to be
useful to all who are minded to
engage in the same branch of bust
ness. She says: "The hens should
be made as gentle as possible, and
taught not to be afraid of the
one who cares for them, in ordor to
overcome, as much as possible, the
promptings of their wild nature
to hide their nest and their little
ones in deep, weedy coverts, until
the heavy dews and spring rains
permit the survival of only a
very few of the fttest. Mine will
take food from my hand, and early
in the spring, [ accustcm them to
spending a few hours each day in
their house, which is onely rail
pen with roof, containing few
large nests made of leaves. l
usually set the first two hens which
show an inclination to do so, on
about fifteen eggs apiece, and
some chicken hens on the remain
ing eggs, shutting the other turkey
hens out, so they soon begin laying
again, and at six months old the
second Matching is almost or quite
as large as the first.
CAS- soon as the little ones are a
few hours old l take them out of
the nest (the mother is apt to
crush them, and wrap them light
ly in flannel cloth in a basket,
where they shoald be kept for two
days, putting them out in the sun
shine, for a short time, now and
then, to learn to balance their top
pling bodies on their unsteady
legs.
q do not think young turkeys
eyesight can be very good, for he
usually aims above or below a COW
eted object; the first thing mine
wants is my gold ring. Their
admiration for anything yellow is
very marked, and if | cook an
egg with sweet milk to the con-
sistency of jelly, they will soon
begin TO peck at it in their own
way--thoroughly disguised though
if they get the least bit in their
mouths. After a few days how
ever they learn to eat this food,
and | give them no other for
several weeks, favoring it with
black pepper, and after a while
putting soft crumbs of batter
bread into it, When they are two
or three days old they are put
with their mother on the short
grass in large coop in a sunny
part of the yard, and allowed to
run about for few hours every
bright day. Some one told me,
when | began to raiss turkeys, to
keep them up in a pen until they
were several weeks old, but this is
mistake; the caller they get out
and catch bugs and grasshoppers
the natural food, the healthier
they are. As long as the grass is
dewy in the morning, or whenever
the weather is rainy, the little ones
should be confined to their GOODS,
which should be moved every day,
for little turkey is almost sure to
die ifhe gets wet and dirty. When
two or three weeks old [ give them
egg-bread and clabber, and after
six weeks or SO grain food is the
best; this, whether corn or wheat,
should be boiled, for if their crops
are packed with uncooked grain,
cholera is liable to ensue. have
never seen any bad result from
giving either sweet or buttermilk
to all kinds of fowls, except
that the little ones will drown
themselves in it, if possible; SO it
must be kept in shallow vessels.
"Of course, after the turkeys are
large enouhg to roost out of doors,
they can make their own living,
provided they have good range,
but the thought of a good supper
waiting for them at shutdown will
bring them home